How to Promote Amazon Products on TikTok

When it first came on the scene, TikTok was kind of a joke. Most people saw it as a platform for teenagers to show off dance moves or lip sync, and not much else. However, it’s continued to grow in mainstream popularity, to now become one of the biggest platforms in the world.

Like any social media platform, once it starts to get popular, the topic turns quickly to monetization. How can brands advertise and promote on TikTok?

If you’re an Amazon seller, this should be of interest to you. A lot of Amazon brands have been struggling to make a profit from Facebook ads lately, and are looking for a new traffic channel to use to launch products and grow their brand presence outside the Amazon platform.

So does TikTok work as a promotional channel for Amazon sellers? In short – yes. Read on and we’ll explain why, as well as everything you need to know to promote your Amazon products on TikTok.

Why TikTok?

Other social media platforms, such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, etc, have tried to emulate TikTok’s success with short-form video reels. But none have been able to put a dent in TikTok’s growth.

Along with a huge userbase, TikTok shows a lot of efficacy for promoting brands and products, too.

Let’s take a closer look at why promoting your products on TikTok can be such a great idea.

1 Billion Active Users and Counting

The first thing you want from an external traffic platform is a lot of potential customers. As one of the biggest social media platforms in the world, TikTok definitely checks that box.

TikTok passed 1 billion active users in September 2021. That’s up from around 500 million in its first year, approximately 2 years prior.

Only interested in promoting your brand to US audiences? TikTok has 140 million active users in the US, putting it behind only Facebook, Instagram and YouTube in terms of the biggest social media platforms in the United States.

People Open TikTok A LOT

Another huge plus about TikTok is that, not only are there a lot of users, but those users tend to use TikTok a lot.

The average TikTok user opens the app 19 times per day, and spends an average of 89 minutes per day on the app.

That’s huge for brands. The more people actually go on the app, the more opportunities there are for you to reach them.

75% of US TikTok Users Are Aged 20+

When TikTok first came onto the scene, a lot of people didn’t think it would have potential as an advertising platform, because it was seen as a platform for kids.

But today, that’s not true. While the userbase does skew younger, it’s no longer just a place for pre-teens and teenagers. The majority of users are 20 and over – in the US, 75% of users are over the age of 19. And more than half are 30 and over.

That means there are more than enough people on TikTok with money to spend – it’s not just kids anymore.

TikTok Doesn’t Have a Promotional Stigma

One of the biggest problems with ads on other platforms is that people have become conditioned to seeing them.

With Facebook Ads, for example, it’s hard to stand out because we’re used to seeing ads now, and many of us subconsciously ignore them.

But with TikTok, that bias is not there. It’s seen as a much more organic, personal platform. It’s not somewhere you expect to be bombarded with ads. That means there’s a huge opportunity for brands (as long as they promote the right way, of course).

Related: read up on everything you need to know about running Facebook Ads for Amazon Products, and doing Retargeting Ads on Facebook.

Advertising on TikTok Works

So TikTok doesn’t have the reputation as an advertising platform. But is that for a good reason? Do TikTok Ads work?

They do. Over half of TikTok users agree that the platform helps them discover new things. And 2 out of 3 users are likely to buy something while they’re on the platform.

That’s not just related to ads. But it does show that TikTok and consumerism go hand in hand.

3 Ways to Promote Your Amazon Products With TikTok

So how can you go about promoting your Amazon products on TikTok?

You can use TikTok Ads, for one. But there are other options, if you don’t have the money to spend on ad campaigns, or the time to spend learning how to run ads profitably.

You can also promote your products organically, by building a following like regular TikTok creators. This is cheaper than running ads, but takes a lot more effort.

Alternatively, you can go with a strategy that falls somewhat in the middle of ads and organic promotion. You can partner with TikTok creators who already have a large following on the platform, and promote your products through influencer marketing.

Brands can have success with all three strategies. It’s just about which one fits best for your brand, with the talent and resources you have available to you.

Let’s take a deeper look at each one now.

Organic TikTok Promotion

One of the great things about TikTok right now is that it’s still possible to build a wide organic reach.

On Facebook and Instagram, it’s near impossible today for brands to reach a lot of people without paying. The only way is to put a lot of time and effort into building a real, engaged audience of followers. If you’re a new brand trying to stand out, it’s just not going to happen.

The TikTok algorithm provides opportunities for newer creators to go viral, though. Of course, you shouldn’t expect to go viral. And videos that are overtly promotional or clearly produced by a business, rather than a real person, are unlikely to get far.

There isn’t a proven playbook to getting your videos to reach people on TikTok – especially if the end goal is to grow your brand or get someone to buy a product. You’ll probably need to create a lot of videos, and do a lot of trial and error to come away with a few videos that produce results.

Also, don’t try to directly sell your product (at least not in every video). People come on TikTok for entertainment first, so entertain them – or at least inform them. Create a variety of content, about various topics related to your niche.

You might want to think of it more in terms of building brand awareness, rather than straight up selling products through TikTok videos. This takes effort, and long-term thinking, but it can still be an effective strategy for Amazon brands.

“People come on TikTok for entertainment first, so entertain them. Or at least inform them.”

Influencer Marketing

Another option, if you don’t feel like putting the effort into creating your own content, is to partner with existing creators.

This is influencer marketing – and it’s something that ecommerce brands have had success with for years.

It would work something like this. You get in touch with a creator. You’ll arrange a deal with them to shout out or promote your product to their audience (this could be a flat fee, or a per-sale arrangement). Then they promote it, and you (hopefully) get a nice spike in sales.

This can work incredibly well, if you find the right creators. TikTok is actually tailor made for this strategy. Hashtags like #FoundItOnAmazon, #AmazonFinds, #AmazonMustHaves and #TikTokMadeMeBuyIt have billions of views, and are a perfect fit for seller/influencer partnerships.

The trick is finding the right creators to partner with. You need people that know what they’re doing. They need a wide audience, and the ability to make videos that feel real and convincing.

However, you should expect that partnering with these creators is not going to be cheap. A lot of creators make a full-time living through influencer marketing on TikTok today, and they do so by commanding a lot of money for product shoutouts.

Still, this option generally works out to be profitable for Amazon brands, as long as your product appeals to a wide range of potential customers. If it’s more of a niche product, influencer marketing can work too – but you’ll need to find a creator who is aligned with your niche, rather than one with a generalized audience.

Learn More: How to Use Landing Pages for Amazon Influencer Marketing Campaigns

TikTok Ads

Finally, the other option is to run TikTok Ads.

TikTok Ads can be very effective, if you do them right. You need to craft your ads to fit the platform, more so on TikTok than anywhere else. That means ads that are short, snappy, and capture attention.

Along with that, you need to be targeting the right users (which is at the core of any type of social media advertising).

TikTok Ads are not quite the “new” thing in digital marketing anymore. In 2021, they had an average CPC of a little over $0.50, which was significantly lower than Facebook/Google Ads.

Now, the average CPC is around $1 – not terrible, but not exactly cheap.

Competition has caught up, but you can see that as a good thing – it means TikTok Ads work. If they didn’t, then there wouldn’t be as much competition, and the CPC would be much lower, like with Twitter and Reddit Ads.

How to Run TikTok Ads for Your Amazon Products

So how do TikTok Ads work?

If you’ve got experience with Facebook/Instagram Ads and the Facebook Ads Manager, you should have a good base by which to work with TikTok Ads. But you’ll still need to spend a little time finding your way around the platform.

You can run image and video ads on TikTok – not just video, as you might think. However, you can certainly expect better results with video ads, as these are more likely to fit what the user is expecting to see in terms of content.

TikTok Ad Formats

Here are the types of ads you can run on TikTok:

In-Feed Ads: this is a video or image that runs within a user’s feed. Video ads can be up to 60 seconds long, and can have a clickable CTA button.
TopView: these ads show at the top of the user’s feed – basically, the prime real estate position for TikTok advertisers.
Spark Ads: ads that work by boosting organic content, allowing users to engage with ads the same way they do regular content.
Brand Takeover: this is a full-screen video that shows when a user first opens the app.
Branded Hashtag Challenge: a hashtag, created by a brand, made to encourage content creation from other users who participate in the challenge.
Branded Effects: augmented reality effects, such as games, stickers and filters, which other creators can take and use in their own videos.

For Amazon brands, most of the time you’re going to be looking at In-Feed Ads. This is the standard ad format, and the type that most closely resembles a normal Facebook/Instagram ad.

If you have a big budget, you might experiment with TopView or Brand Takeover ads. While those with a bit of imagination might try a Branded Hashtag. But if you’re unsure where to start, start with In-Feed Ads.

TikTok Ads – Basic Steps to Get Started

Here’s a quick walkthrough on how to get started with TikTok Ads for your Amazon store.

Create an ad account in TikTok Ads Manager.
Create a TikTok Pixel. If you’ve used Facebook Ads before, you’ll find this is pretty similar to how the Facebook Pixel works.
Create your campaign. Like ads on most other platforms, the hierarchy of TikTok Ads is: Campaign > Ad Group > Ad. So you can have a number of ad groups within a campaign, and a number of ads within an ad group.
1. The campaign is where you need to select an advertising objective, such as Traffic, Conversions or App Installs. Generally you’ll get the best results from choosing Conversions as your objective – however you’ll need a way to track conversions if you choose this. You’ll also define your budget at the Campaign step.
2. In your Ad Group, you’ll choose your placements and targeting. For placements, you can choose TikTok’s automatic placements, or your own. Then you’ll move on to interest, behavior and demographic targeting to build the audience of people your ads can be shown to. Finally, you’ll set up your budget and bidding settings for your ad group.
3. The last step is to create your ads themselves. You can create up to 20 ads within a single ad group – this is a good opportunity to test various creative approaches, to see what gets the best results. You’ll upload your videos/images here, as well as writing the headline/text that will accompany your ad, plus the destination link to your product or landing page.

TikTok videos can be in 9:16, 1:1, or 16:9 aspect ratios. Generally vertical videos (9:16 aspect ratio) work best on the platform, so take that into account when doing the creative part.

Once you finish creating your ad campaign, including all the ad sets and ads within that campaign, there will be a review process before your ads go live.

After that time, you’ll want to monitor your performance in TikTok Ads Manager, and tweak your ad sets/ads to favor whatever seems to be delivering the best results.

Tips for Running Successful TikTok Ads

“Videos can be anywhere from 5 to 60 seconds, but the best results come from videos 21 to 34 seconds long.”

Here are some quick tips to get the most out of your TikTok Ads:

Be authentic. TikTok is a platform where people go to see real, authentic people – even if they’re acting out and doing crazy things. So make something that is likely to connect with people, and not feel too corporate.
Use vertical videos. As we mentioned before, the 9:16 aspect ratio works best. This makes your ads feel like real, made-for-TikTok videos.
Grab the user’s attention. This is true with any kind of advertising, but particularly for TikTok, where attention spans are short. You need to really hook the user in in the first few seconds. Also, videos can be anywhere from 5 to 60 seconds long, but the best results generally come from videos 21 to 34 seconds long.
Think long-term. You’re not always going to get people to go straight from the video to your store to make a purchase. But that doesn’t mean your ads have to be a failure. Think about how you can build brand awareness and image through your ads, and how they can benefit you long-term.
Use a landing page. You’re going to get the best results if you can track conversions. And the best way to do that is with a landing page. You’ll be able to install the TikTok Pixel on your landing page (you can’t do that on your Amazon listing), and the landing page is a great way to capture assets with long-term value, such as email signups and deeper analytics on your target audience.

Summing Up: Should Amazon Brands Drive Traffic from TikTok?

If you’re an Amazon seller, you should absolutely try driving traffic from TikTok.

External traffic channels are a great way to get more sales, and boost your organic Amazon rankings. External traffic also lets you take control over your sales, be less reliant on the swings of Amazon’s search algorithm, and build assets (such as an email list) that you own.

And of all off-Amazon traffic channels, TikTok is looking like the most effective right now. It’s less diluted than Facebook and Instagram, and offers a platform that’s geared towards engagement – a great thing for brands.

TikTok Ads and TikTok Influencers can both be incredible marketing channels for your brand. We recommend experimenting with both, and learning how to best utilize them to grow brand awareness, and to drive sales.

Organic TikTok promotion can work as well, but takes a bit more creativity. For many Amazon brands, it makes more sense to go with tactics that you can scale with money. That means influencer marketing and ads.

Start learning these channels as soon as you can. It’s not too late to get on the TikTok boat and make money from the hundreds of millions of users who can’t get enough of scrolling their feed everyday.

How to Promote Amazon Products on TikTok

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